Ticking
by WildFlower084
Summary: Nearly six years have gone by. So many things have changed and so many have stayed the same. Life at Section One can get pretty lonely without those you love the most.


**A/N: This is my first time at writing a Nikita fanfiction (but definetely not the first time writing fanfics though), so please be kind! I accept anonymous reviews so please feel free to tell me what you thought. I'll willing to consider a sequel to this oneshot if you request it. All you need to do is ask.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothin' except the four new characters.**

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Somewhere around the world, a bomb is ticking. Nikita can feel it in her pulse, the seconds slowly ticking away, the bomb ready to explode at any second now. She watches from her screen, operatives running through a parking lot, away from the building. Soon, there will be debris everywhere, bodies flying in the sky from the force of the explosion. This could have been her, hiding behind the black SUV, if destiny had played its cards differently. Fortunately (or unfortunately, she couldn't decide), she had chosen to stay here, to become what her father had expected her to become, what everyone had expected her to become. As Operations, she was safer here than she would have been out there... with _him_. 

She barely flinches, her eyes never leaving the screen, as the building shatters. Glass and bricks are flying everywhere, the surveillance camera in the SUV shaking mildly as the ground shakes. The silent taping prevents Nikita from hearing the noise the bodies make as they fall to the ground. She closes her heart, closes her mind; she simply watches.

Dust falls slowly from the sky and the operatives are running towards the collapsed building, in search of survivors. All of them are to be captured and brought back here for questioning. Nikita isn't sure how many of them will be alive but it doesn't matter. She only needs one.

A poke on a button and the image on the screen switches to a room outside Section One. In black and white, she watches as two children run around the small playroom, laughing silently. Nikita can't help the sigh that escapes her lips. She watches her daughter, her long hair floating in the air as she runs after her brother. Barely five years old and yet Nikita can already see the resemblance to their father. Their brown hair and grey eyes are so representative of him that she often finds herself incapable of looking at them, the pain too great to bare. She misses him deeply yet, with the twins looking so much like him, it seems like he has never left. His spirit seems to linger about Section, as mysteriously and as quietly as he had been. Jacob had inherited his father's mysterious personality whereas Erin, according to others, was more like Nikita.

Almost six years have gone by since the couple had said their goodbyes at the train station. She could still see Adam, Michael's son, watching her with his deep brown eyes as she said goodbye to his father. She wondered where they were, what they were doing. Adam was probably nearly a teenager now and Nikita wondered, in mild amusement, how Michael was coping. Did he have help? Had he found someone to replace her? He told her he would wait for her. Six years had passed; had he kept his promise?

She often imagined, as she lay to rest in her cabin, how Michael would react if she were to send the twins to his home. Would he greet them with open arms or would he slam the door in their face? Several times she had let her mind wander away from the Section to some unknown land somewhere in the world. Michael was there, they were all together, reunited, and pretending that the few days they would spend together was the real deal. Michael would be sitting on the couch, trying to read the newspaper as Erin tried desperately to get his attention by climbing on him. Jacob would be running around the room, Nikita warning him to stop before he broke something. Her warning would soon be followed by something crashing to the floor, just as she had predicted. Then they would laugh at the irony of the situation, while Michael got up to clean up the mess.

On rare occasions, she even pretended that those few days were in fact going to last forever, Michael and her finally living the dream they had cherished for so long.

She watches as a woman walked into the screen. The twins immediately stop running and gather around her. She was petite, with dark brown hair and wonderful brown eyes. Nikita had loved her instantly. Who better than Maria to take care of her children? She loved them as her own, took care of them as though they were the most precious thing in the world. She knew Maria couldn't quite replace her in her children's eyes (as Erin and William often told her), but at least they were safer with the Spanish woman than they were here at Section.

She glances at the time on the lower right of her screen. The operatives would be arriving soon. Turning off her screen, she stares for a moment longer at the now blank screen before getting to her feet.

The sliding doors open in a hissing sound and Nikita steps out of her office. Her heels echos on the metal stairs, the sound bouncing off the walls. She passes Ginny in the stairs, nodding politely at the young operative, tired from her last mission in the south of Spain. She continues passed more doors and climbs down more stairs before reaching the main floor.

She disappears into a maze of corridors to reach another set of sliding doors. It's only a matter of seconds before the doors open to let in exhausted operatives, gripping tightly at their captures. Hopefully they have at least managed to capture one. She needs the information.

As she waits, her mind wanders to her children across the city. Maybe she could go home tonight, just for one night. She'll put Matthew in charge. He is more than ready.

The sliding doors open to reveal a tall, dark haired man. Matthew stops in front of her, his hand clutching tightly his prisoner's collar.

"We managed to capture three." Matthew says.

The prisoner tries to escape but one hard shake from the operative calms him.

Nikita nods.

"Bring him to the interrogation room. There's a briefing in five minutes. Afterwards, I'll need to talk to you."

Matthew gives a stiff nod before disappearing behind her. Nikita watches the other operatives walking in, prisoner in hand, and she nods politely at them as they pass in front of her.

When the last operative has stepped in Section, the doors close behind him. Turning on her heels, Nikita heads back to the floor above and to the briefing table. As she waits, she prepares mentally for what she is about to tell them. Time is running out on this mission. If they don't act quickly enough, there could be great damage. Not only to the country, but to Section itself. They have managed to capture three men, this should give them more time.

Ringing reaches her ears. Sliding her hand in her pocket, she takes out the tiny cellphone lodged inside. She recognizes the number instantly. But as she is about to answer, operatives are arriving at the table, ready to debrief. Ignoring the call, she puts the cellphone back in her pocket.

She spots the black haired man sitting at the end of the table. Walking to him, she bends close to his ear.

"I need to cover for me tonight." She whispers in his ear.

Matthew nods, understanding right away.

Then, straightening up, her heart filling lighter at the thought of being able to see her children that night, Nikita begins the debrief. The cellphone vibrates in her pocket, telling her she has a new message.


End file.
